This blog is inspired by the love, warmth and enthusiasm of my Dad who died on Nov. 21, 2009. Losing a loved one is a life changing event. I was old to be losing my first loved one. He was 91, never mind about my age. But suffice it to say I knew him for over 50 years.

Dad taught me that life is all about making people feel good and loved. He had the ability to make you feel like you were the only one that mattered when he listened and spoke to you. He even cheered up his hospice doctor less than a week before he died. She came up to his bedside and he took her hand and kissed it and said, “I love you.” She was totally bowled over!

When I first lost Dad all I could remember was how awful it was to lose him. The sight of dying is not pretty, and I couldn’t stop dreaming about how he looked as he died and how he changed every day during his last week which made me feel so helpless. I knew I had to honor his desire to die as he had stopped eating and drinking exactly 1 week before he died. Over time more of the good times I shared with Dad are starting to surface as time is a good healer.

When Dad died I declared that I wanted to give back to the community. I travel so much that I can’t regularly volunteer as Mom is now weak and needs us kids to visit her frequently. So this blog will be my way of giving to you. In it I will describe thoughts and feelings from my heart, from my life experiences. I hope that as you read this blog you will associate some of my feelings with your life’s events. Perhaps that might be comforting, especially since my life’s experiences and sentiments are not extraordinary. But perhaps my way of expressing myself will resonate with you and bring some joy, happiness, comfort and healing into your life.